Sir David Attenborough said the prospect of playing a floor polisher at the Last Night Of The Proms was more terrifying than being charged by a rhinoceros.

The veteran natural history broadcaster had final rehearsals for his part in an unusual orchestral piece at Saturday night’s extravaganza, which also calls for vacuum cleaners, rifles and a full orchestra.

Sir David Attenborough is nervous about his Proms appearance

Sir David confessed this performance would be one of the most daunting moments in his distinguished career, saying: “This is tough, this is nerve-wracking – a charging rhinoceros is absolutely nothing compared to this.”

Joining Sir David on stage at the Royal Albert Hall for Sir Malcolm Arnold’s comic piece A Grand, Grand Overture will be comedian Rory Bremner, drum and bass musician Goldie and journalist Martha Kearney.

Part of the piece involves Bremner “shooting” Sir David, and he said he was nervous about gunning down a national treasure.

Bremner said: “I’m actually going to have to shoot David Attenborough and I think he’s out of season. He is a national treasure – it’s up there with shooting the Queen Mother or Judi Dench.”

During rehearsals with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir David seemed concerned about his instrument’s performance, though conductor David Robertson joked that he had been given the “Stradivarius of floor polishers”.

“It’s a little temperamental. One of the characteristics of it is it doesn’t sound on pressing the button so when I turn it on it may take that microsecond before you hear it,” Sir David said. “People might think I’m slightly off the beat but it’s a characteristic of the instrument.”

Robertson said giving cues to Sir David was a high point of his career and he hoped the audience would appreciate the comic piece.